Creating vertical gardens with recycled pallets

No doubt that much of Orange County's best soils for growing things have been paved over.

But for an avid gardener who likes to see some green among his asphalt, finding a spot to grow vegetables and herbs took innovation and thought about using what's on hand.

J.R. Murillo of Orange County Farm Supply in Orange created vertical garden space by digging into the stacks of pallets at the back of the store from product shipments that arrive daily.

While dispensing advice at the front counter of this hard-core horticultural stop, Murillo manages to steal a few minutes to build another pallet planter, or pop herbs into the pallet gardens he has already made.

"To be honest, it wasn't my idea," Murillo said. "The boss's wife wanted a wall garden, and so I made one for her."

Murillo has been with Orange County Farm Supply for 11 years. He has learned everything he knows about gardening by working there and tends an extensive raised-bed vegetable garden at home.

"I teamed up with microbes and use a lot of organic practices," he said.

Pallets come in all shapes and sizes and are perfect for pocket planting lettuces, strawberries, herbs and flowers. You can lay them flat in the garden to plant, or hang them on a wall.

You don't even need to hang your pallet. You can simply prop it against a wall by standing it on a hard surface like concrete.

A pallet, landscape fabric and a staple gun are the minimum tools to get started.

Murillo went fancy with his pallets by removing every other row of wood and using those pieces to nail in the bottom of each planting pouch. You can also fashion planting pouches with landscape fabric and a staple gun.

"It takes about three or four hours to make two gardens," Murillo said. He added that depending on the weather, they need a good soak once or twice a week.

Pallet gardens that lie flat on the ground don't need pouches. After lining the back and sides with landscape fabric, you can fill the entire pallet with soil and then plant.

Murillo added decorative trellis wood to dress up the front of his pallets and stained only the outside.

Pallets are becoming increasingly popular among DIYers who fashion them into coffee tables, couches and outdoor sheds.

The possibilities are endless with this often free supply of wood found by Dumpster divers behind retail stores. Not all pallets are up for grabs, though.

While many are hauled to the dump, some companies send their pallets back to their suppliers to be used again. So ask before you dive in.

It's recommended that for gardening, you seek out pallets that are heat-treated for pests as opposed to pesticide sprayed. But I have no idea how you can tell the difference just by looking at them.

Pallet gardens can last up to three years before the wood starts to decay. It's easy enough then to start over. Orange County Farm Supply sells raw pallets for $10 each.